‘Pride in work sorely lacking in Indian employees’

A veteran of the global corporate scene, Khera opened up to this newspaper on a range of subjects encompassing the Indian workspace 2.0 and the challenges facing cubicle dwellers in the new age.  

The third industrial revolution took place in 1990 with the arrival of the Internet, which revolutionised business.  We have entered the fourth revolution now which involves automation and artificial intelligence. In the next 10-15 years, about 15 pc of jobs of a repetitive nature could vanish globally.   Additionally, with the speed of change, knowledge is becoming obsolete within 3-4 years, creating further challenges.  

The positive news is that those who are prepared, have a tremendous opportunity. Those who intend to succeed need to master three skills – people skill, persuasion and prioritisation. We don’t have business problems – we have people problems. And when we take care of the former, most of the latter get automatically resolved. Throughout history, we are hired for skills but fired for behaviour. 

The biggest challenge the corporate world faces is that of trust and accountability. Ethics have changed drastically. As per a recent Gallup Survey, 63 per cent of people who go to work are disengaged, which means they don’t do their job. An additional 24 per cent are actively disengaged, and they don’t let others do their job either. That means only 13 per cent of people, who go to work, actually work. About 20 per cent of people apply 80 per cent of what they learn and 80 per cent apply 20 per cent of what they learn.  Output differs when a boss is around, and behaviour shifts in the absence of the boss. Is that what we get paid for? Is this not an integrity issue? There 

is a big difference between making money versus earning money. Most people want to make money, few want to earn it. It is high time people understood that wages without work amounts to stealing.  

To start a new enterprise, a person needs mental and emotional maturity. They need a financial back-up and the ability to take risks. They also need leadership and managerial skills, which are missing in most start-ups.  The hype has raised the expectations of a lot of people and produced a lot of restlessness in youngsters. Hence, you see high attrition with no stability, and in the long haul it becomes a frustrating proposition.  

What is badly required in today’s workforce is pride in performance which is missing.  People, who take pride in performance, hold themselves accountable for much higher standards of performance than others do. India as a nation has started acknowledging dignity of labour. What we need is a conducive political environment. In the current milieu, youngsters are so frustrated that more than 50 per cent of youth want to leave India permanently. 

Where a person will be five years from now, will depend on the books they read, and the company they keep. In the US, the average person may read 5-10 works of fiction a year, whereas people who do well read about 40-50 books a year.